Caught in the Crossfire
by chillthebeans
Summary: Bella was taken from death row by a secret U.S. agency called T4. They faked her death and told her she was being given a second chance to start a new life and serve her country. What they didn't tell her was that she was being trained to become an assassin. Bella has her own secrets and is determined to keep them hidden, but how long can she hide from her past? BxE, AU.
1. Chapter 1

**So here's the thing. Sorry. A lot of stuff happened and I just didn't feel like writing. **

**But now I'm back and I will update all my stories. Promise.**

**I have totally become obsessed with a new fandom. Nikita. The 2010 TV show, for those of you who don't know me. I you did know me, you would know I can't stand anything if I isn't made after 2005.**

**Anyway, Nikita is freaking awesome and I love it! Check out my profile for awesome quotes. **

**Sorry, I'm getting off-topic. This story is kind of Nikita-y. So forgive me, Warner Brothers.**

**This is just a short wee intro into it to see if it will be accepted by the FF community. So come on, don't make fun of something just because it's a little different. (Sorry for the 'wee'. It's my Irish roots.)**

**And DISCLAIMER- ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**The characters and events in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. No part of this fiction may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the author's prior approval.**

**Was that too long? This whole a/n is extremely long. I'm gonna stop writing now and let you read the story. Okay. Enjoy.**

* * *

Her milky coffee sat on the table in front of her. The wisps of steam danced in the air.

"There you go, Bells," the guard on duty said and released her hands from the metal cuffs. Bella glared at him for using the nickname and rubbed her wrists, a habit she often did when her emotions got the best of her.

"What? You said not to call you Isabella, so I'm doing what you want," he said and raised his hands up in mock surrender.

She glanced down at the angry red welts around her wrists - a result of the cuffs being put on too tightly.

"Enjoy your meal. I'll be back later to put your cuffs back on," he said and left the room, bolting the doors shut behind him.

Bella sighed and sat down on the chair in front of her. The washed out green contrasted with the pristine whiteness of the wall and the floor. The only other color was the faded brown of the coffee table.

She wondered how many others have sat in the same seat and eaten their last meals off the same table.

She glared at the coffee and muffin on the table before her. She had asked for bread and wine for her last meal to give the media something to gossip about, but the guards had just laughed and brought her steaming hot coffee that was to warm to drink and a dry blueberry muffin.

A plan started to form in her mind. She wanted to wipe that stupid smile off the guard's face. The chair and the table were the only furniture in the room and they were bolted to the floor. Her gaze wandered to the coffee again. Exactly.

Knowing all too well that there are cameras in the room, she took a sip of the coffee, burning her taste buds as she did and slowly set it back on the table. Then she knocked the muffin onto the floor and got up to retrieve it.

Before she got to the muffin, she collapsed onto the cold, hard ground. A buzz rang out and the guard from earlier came running into the room. He knelt on the floor beside her.

"Christ, Bella. What happened?"

Bella gripped her stomach. "I'm lactose intolerant," she grunted, hoping that the guard hadn't read a copy of her medical records or seen a lactose intolerant drink milk.

"Shit. Guys!" he yelled into a radio on his shoulder.

Once his attention was on his radio, Bella slowly moved her hand to the table and grabbed the coffee. Then, she threw it in his face.

The guard screamed and tried to wipe the steaming hot liquid off his face but his efforts were in vain. Bella used the distraction to grab his gun and Taser from his belt. She shocked him with 50,000 volts and his body went limp. Two other guards burst through the door and she pointed her gun at them.

"Easy, Swan. Take it easy," one said, trying to coax her. "Put the gun down."

She knew it would be pointless to shoot them and try to make a run for it. There were armed guards positioned everywhere inside the prison.

The guards' guns were still pointed at her head. She decided to have a little more fun.

She threw the weapons to the floor, put her hands on her head and dropped to her knees. The guards moved in behind her and one of them gripped both of her arms in one hand.

Big mistake. She tore her arms from his grasp and used one hand to grab the Taser from his waistband and the other to grab the Taser on the floor. Then she shocked them both and they fell like ragdolls.

Bella smiled to herself and dropped the Tasers. _God, the guards must think I'm a psycho_, she thought. She made her way over to the muffin she knocked to the ground and picked it up before biting into it. It was dry and slightly dusty, but better than any other food she had in the prison.

She noticed that the door of the room has been left open but didn't bother to do anything. She just sank back into the faded green chair and waited for more guards to arrive.

She didn't have to wait long. Six more guards ran into the room, guns at the ready and seemed surprised that Bella was calmly eating a muffin while surrounded by unconscious guards.

A female officer was first to recover from the confusion. "Let's go, Swan," she commanded. Bella looked up at her when her name was spoken but didn't move. When she was on the run, she learnt that to survive, she needed to pay attention to her enemies. Learn what their weaknesses are. She cased the officer. _Early 30s,_ she guessed. _Single mom with…one child. Hates her job and wants to quit but can't. She needs the money._

"Now," the officer said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Bella got up and offered her hands to the male officer closest to her. Her hands did not shake as he slid the cuffs onto her wrists.

"Cullen, take the prisoner back to her cell. The rest of you clean up in here," the female officer ordered and then left.

The officer beside her pulled Bella out of the room. _So this is the mysterious officer Cullen_, she thought. She heard the women in the surrounding cells talk about him at night. He arrived a week ago. Apparently he had been moved to Arizona Women's Max from Illinois Women's Max because of an injury. Bella didn't actually believe the rumors. There was no way a guard at a Women's Maximum Security Prison would be moved because of an injury. Which lead her to question why he was really here.

Once they were far enough away, he whispered, "You put on quite a show back there."

"Yeah," Bella agreed, surprised he was actually talking to her. Most guards didn't bother to speak to her other than to hurl insults and obscenities.

"Why didn't you run?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious? It would have been me with one gun against infinite guards with infinite guns. They would've shot me by the time I got out of the room," she explained. "I'd like to die with what's left of my dignity."

"Oh," he said. He was quiet after that.

Before long, they reached Bella's cell.

"Home, sweet home," she said and smiled at the guard.

He just opened the door and motioned for her to go in. Bella rolled her eyes and walked through the doorway.

She slotted her hands through a gap in the bars and he uncuffed her wrists.

"I have some good news," he stated.

"Really?" Bella said as she walked to her bed and flopped very unceremoniously onto the mattress.

"Yes," he replied. "Your stay of execution was granted."

"If I wanted you to lie to me, I would tell you…Officer Cullen."

"Edward. Call me Edward."

"Well, Edward, even if that were true, that is not good news," she raised her eyebrows at him, "because I have to be stuck in this dump for another…what? Another hour?"

"Another day, actually."

"Yippee. I was actually looking forward to tonight. Now I have to wait even longer to die."

Confusion flickered across his features before settling in to that perfect mask most guards wore. "Do you want to die?" he asked.

She sat up. A few strands of lank hair fell in front of her face. Her expression was so calm and untroubled, Edward thought she was going to say yes. But after a pause, her eyes sank down to the concrete floor and she bit her lip. "No," she answered simply.

"What would you do if you got to live? If you had a second chance?" he questioned. He was breaking the rules by telling her that but he couldn't help himself.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, her cautious brown eyes burning into his green ones.

"What would you do if you were able to get away from all of this," he motioned to the cells, "and start over?"

Bella thought for a minute. She had no idea where he was going.

"I think I would try to put things right," she answered after a beat.

She looked into his eyes with earnest and Edward believed her. At least now he wouldn't be going back to Aro empty-handed.

"I hate it when they call me 'prisoner'. It's so degrading," she said, changing the subject.

"Well last time I checked, you were imprisoned in a prison. Therefore, you are a prisoner."

"I know. But 'prisoner' has lots of negative connotations attached to it. How would the guards feel if I called them 'rapists' or 'sexual predators'?"

"What are you implying?"

"That the guards here are all bastards," she said and rolled up the sleeve of her prison jumpsuit to reveal bruises in the shape of a hand print.

"Cullen! You are wanted in the D block!" A voice called from down the hall.

Edward sighed and wrenched his eyes off Bella. "Coming!" he yelled and exited her cell before bolting it shut and he walked off without looking back. _Don't get attached. The Bureau doesn't allow relationships,_ he repeated over and over in his head.

Bella sighed and lay down again. She had let down her guard. She had let someone in. And not just someone -a complete stranger she didn't know anything about.

Suddenly she was hit with a headache so bad she gritted her teeth and balled her fists. She held her breath until it passed and then shuffled to the door of her cell. She peered into the dark cell opposite her.

"Lucy!" she whispered, massaging her temples.

When there was no answer, she hit the bars with her fist. The rattle echoed down the corridor.

"Dammit, Lucy!" she yelled.

After several moments, the occupant of the cell moved to the bars. Her black hair was matted and greasy and her face was coated in a sheen of sweat. "What?" she asked.

"Give it here!"

Lucy smirked at her. "Why? Yesterday you called me a ho-bag."

"Yesterday was yesterday, now give me the k!" Bella kicked the bars of her cell again and ran her hands through her hair - another nervous habit. The world started to spin.

"No, Bella. I'm sick of you treating me like shit and then acting like my friend every time you need a hit!"

Bella slumped to the floor, still feeling dizzy. "Luce. Please. I'm dying over here," she rasped out as a wave of nausea hit her.

Lucy's face softened at the nickname. She had been through withdrawal too many times to count. But Bella had always treated her like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of her prison issue tennis shoes.

"I'm not going to give you any, Bella. Call the guards. They'll help you," Lucy whispered and retreated back into the darkness of her cell.

Bella started to shake violently and breathing came in short ragged gasps. She bent over and her body convulsed as she vomited three times. Then she felt herself spiraling down and down into the blackness.

~x~

Edward sighed and sat down on the cold metal chair in the guard's room.

"Rough day, Eddie?" a guard in the corner asked him.

Edward turned around in his seat to look at the guard. He had a slight burn on his face and a bruise on his neck.

"What happened?" Edward asked him. If there was another femme fatale in the prison, he could recruit her too. He was sent to the prison to recruit a woman, but two would be even better. Maybe Aro would give him the day off.

"That bitch Swan got to me. Threw coffee in my face and stabbed me in the neck with my own Taser," he said, motioning to the bruise.

_Great_, Edward thought. _I'm not going to get to that new bar that just opened downtown._

"I have to go check on someone," he lied, wanting to get away from the injured guard. Something about him seemed…off.

"'Bye then. But stay away from Swan. She's so fucked up she doesn't even remember killing that cop," the guard warned.

Edward left the room. If that was his definition of 'fucked up' then it was great he didn't know about Edward's background.

He walked along the corridors and hadn't realized he had come to Bella's block until he rounded the corner to her cell and found her lying on the floor in her own vomit. He quickly pressed the emergency button on his cuff and unlocked her cell. He picked her up bridal style and rushed off to the infirmary.

It was dark inside. There was no one there besides his "father" and a sleeping prisoner strapped to a white bed.

"Carlisle, she's the one," he said.

Carlisle nodded and Edward carried Bella's unconscious form over to an empty bed.

"Withdrawal," Carlisle stated. He didn't have to check to know. He had seen many withdrawals in his time at the Bureau.

Edward's brow furrowed. "There was nothing wrong with her this morning."

"Someone's been selling her drugs then," Carlisle pointed out. "Not surprising. In most prisons that I've worked in there has been a hidden drug ring."

Edward drew the curtains around the bed while Carlisle checked Bella's vitals.

"She looks good."

"When will she be ready for transport?"

Carlisle sighed.

"What?" Edward asked.

"It's just…I think we should go ahead with the execution. But switch the drugs. There have been enough suicides from this prison. Anymore and it might be investigated. And we wouldn't want the Arizona Department of Corrections to find that there are so many leaks."

"Fine," Edward snapped, resuming the tone he used inside the Bureau.

"Aww," Carlisle teased. "Is someone missing their trade-free, organic Venezuelan coffee?"

"It is much better than the instant stuff here, that's for sure."

"Why did you pick her?" Carlisle asked, motioning to the girl on the bed.

"She brought down three guards with nothing but a cup of coffee and two Tasers."

"Are you sure about her, Edward?"

"Do you doubt my judgment, Carlisle?"

"No, not at all. "It's just, normally Alec does these jobs, and he usually runs it by Jasper. How is Aalec, by the way?"

"Alec's fine. Personally, I think he had it coming. Jane has been pissed at him every since Mozambique."

"What happened?"

Edward smiled. "Classified."

Carlisle rolled his eyes. "When is her execution?" he asked, returning his attention to Bella.

"Tomorrow. It was supposed to be tonight but someone granted her stay of execution."

Carlisle didn't have to raise his eyebrows at his "son". The look on his face said it all.

"Okay, it was me. I had been thinking about choosing her for a while." Edward shrugged. She fit the profile."

"And what is the profile?"

Edward glowered at his colleague. "We shouldn't be discussing this."

"So?" Carlisle asked.

Edward sighed. "Oh, you know, attractive, troubled past, death row. Same as most recruits."

Bella stirred slightly, startling them both.

"I'll go arrange the drugs. You find out how much of that she heard," Carlisle said as he backed away and entered a side room that had to be unlocked with a key.

"Bella?" Edward whispered.

There was no answer so he pressed his ear to her chest. She was sound asleep.

Edward let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Crisis averted.

He looked down at Bella. She was so helpless. So vulnerable. He wondered if he was making the right choice. Then he thought of the way she had disabled the guards and the sardonic smirk on her face as she walked into her cell. He thought of the way her hands didn't shake as he fastened the cuffs on. He was sure he was right.

**Yes? No? Maybe so?**

**Jodi xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: To see the full disclaimer, see chapter one. For a shortened version, keep reading.**

**Twilight = Not mine. :)**

* * *

Bella woke up slowly, first moving her arms, then grimacing with her eyes still closed, and finally opening her eyes and blinking away the sedative-induced haze to find herself curled under the covers of her prison bed. Her memory was fuzzy, but she could remember passing out on the floor. Someone must have put her back in bed.

She sat up and groaned as her head throbbed violently. She massaged her temples before grimacing again and slowly sliding out of bed.

"Good morning," Edward said, breaking the silence of the cell.

Bella jumped, startled by his voice and spun around to find him sitting in a chair in the corner.

"Were you watching me sleep?" she asked.

"Maybe," Edward answered.

She sighed and muttered "creep" under her breath.

"I'm actually here to monitor your withdrawal."

"Well, my nose is running, my stomach's cramping and I feel like my head is about to fall off. Now can you leave? I need to prepare myself for my fifteen minutes of fame."

"Fame, huh?"

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I'm very famous. A lot of people will know about it when I die. I made the seven o'clock news. Haven't you read the paper?"

"I have actually," Edward said, motioning to the paper on the table next to her bed. She walked over to it. '_Femme_ _fatale injures officers in daring escape attempt_' the heading proclaimed.

"Wow." Bella smiled. "News travels fast around here."

"It does. You're going to go for your meal in ten minutes. I don't think you're getting coffee this time," Edward said, smirking.

Bella half-smiled. Her eyes wandered around the room. They landed on the keys attached to Edward's belt. He noticed.

"Don't even think about it," he chided.

Bella sighed and flopped back onto her bed, groaning as the sudden movement made her head hurt even more.

"You know what I miss the most?" she asked after a beat.

"Freedom?" Edward guessed.

"Nah. Twizzlers."

"Twizzlers?"

"Yeah. I haven't had one in ages. Must be six years."

"It's been six years since you've had a Twizzler?"

"I couldn't just walk into a convenience store and buy sweets when I was off my face on drugs," Bella explained, rolling her eyes.

"I suppose you're right," Edward agreed.

She was silent for a while, tracing some invisible pattern on the ceiling with her eyes. She sighed and her gaze swiveled to meet his.

For a brief second, Edward saw her emotions in her eyes. There was some internal struggle going on inside her head. He could see that she wanted to give in and be scared. But he could also see that whatever trauma had happened in her past had squashed that part of her flat.

"It's going to be okay, Bella," he said impulsively.

Her eyes hardened and the same sardonic smirk from earlier spread across her face.

"I told you before, if I wanted you to lie to me, I would ask you to." Bella pursed her lips. "And you don't have to baby me. I'm not that fragile."

She reached under her pillow and pulled out a small rubber ball. It was yellow with a smiley face on it. She twirled it in her fingers.

As if she could sense Edward staring, she said, "I know it's really ridiculous, but it's the most entertaining thing I have around here."

She got up and started bouncing it against the wall opposite her. With each dainty flick of her wrist, the ball hit the ground, then the wall, then the ground again before she caught it.

"Look, Bella, I know you're afraid," Edward started. Bella threw the ball against with more force. "But you have to trust me." She threw it harder again. "It will be okay."

When he said the last word, she didn't quite catch the ball and it went ricocheting around the room. "Don't," she warned.

"I'm serious-"

"Don't!" she repeated, cutting him off.

"But-"

"NO!" Angrily, she spun around to face him. Tears fell from her eyes. "You don't get it! You aren't the one who lost everything that mattered to you! You're not the one who had their childhood ripped from them!" She launched herself at him, hitting and kicking and punching, doing everything to try to hurt him. "You're not the one who's going to die in a couple of hours!"

She cried as she hit him. Eventually, she stopped her feeble efforts and flung her arms around his neck, still crying. He brought his arms around her and comforted her as sobs wracked her body.

"Edward…I'm scared," she choked out between hiccups.

"Don't be," he whispered.

She stayed in his arms until a buzz sounded from his radio, signaling that it was time for her last meal.

She swallowed hard and pulled away from him. "We better go now. No rest for the wicked, right?" She half-smiled and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jumpsuit.

Another guard came into her cell, startling them both. "I'm here to take Swan to the room for her last meal," he said, his voice trembling and his greasy black hair falling into his face. He was obviously scared senseless being so close to Bella.

Bella walked over to him, smiled sweetly and whispered something in his ear. His acne-ridden face went abnormally pale and he scurried off down the corridor.

"The Prince, chapter seventeen," Bella explained and turned back to face Edward. "'It is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both'."

"You know Machiavelli?" Edward asked.

"I'm full of surprises," she said and smiled wryly.

"What did you say to him anyway?"

"Oh just something to do with decapitation, don't worry about it," Bella answered.

An amused smile appeared on Edward's face.

"He'll be back soon," Bella reassured him.

Sure enough, not a minute later, the guard was back. This time with a gun pointed at Bella's head.

Bella smiled at him again and surrendered her hands to his metal cuffs.

The guard's hands were shaking as he put his hand on her shoulder and escorted her out of the cell. Bella threw a quick glance over her shoulder at Edward before the guard led her round a corner and they disappeared from sight.

Edward sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He had no idea why Bella trusted him so much. He decided that he would continue acting friendly while they were in the prison. Then when they reached the Bureau headquarters, he would distance himself from her and allow her to settle in.

Edward sighed again. He knew that he felt something for her. He just didn't know what. Emotions were alien to him. Ever since-.

He stopped his train of thought before it could get any worse. There was no way he would think of _that_ today. He had promised himself that he had gotten over it.

After a standard prison meal consisting of pork roll, carrots, green beans, bread and mashed potatoes - the warden had refused to let her choose what she wanted after what had happened the day before - Bella was taken to the visiting room.

As she was being led to the small, damp room she tried desperately to not get her hopes up. She knew _he_ wouldn't be there. _He_ hadn't visited her at all. _He_ hadn't even picked up when she called him. Still, she felt a bubble of hope swell up inside of her.

As the faded red door swung open, her hopes fell. It was just the victim's mother sitting behind a wall of Plexiglass. Bella scowled. She did not need to listen to another person lecture her and tell her that they hoped she would burn in hell.

Bella was forced into a hard orange chair and listened to the woman's tears of sorrow for half an hour. Bella zoned out but she could still hear the woman's voice mixed in with her thoughts.

_"…Riley was such a good…"_

She was so stupid to think that _he_ might've been there. _He_ only stayed with her because he felt responsible for her or some shit.

_He_ felt sorry for her. _He_ never loved her. _He_ never even liked her. The only good thing _he_ did for her was getting her a fake ID. But Bella never thanked him for it.

_"…and it was horrible to know that my own son…"_

Bella groaned mentally.

_"…so I wish you all the best and…"_

_Stupid fucking waste of time_, she thought.

When the woman finally shut up, they both sat in awkward silence. Bella picked at a scab on her hand, knowing that if she looked up all she would see was the woman's stony glare.

After ten minutes, the guard with the greasy hair and acne came back to fetch Bella. He hadn't calmed down from earlier, as he still kept a gun trained on her.

As they walked the long route back to her cell and passed all the other inmates' desolate faces, the phrase "Life's a bitch and then you die" sprung to Bella's mind. She wasn't the 'glass half empty' type, but when life doesn't even bother to give you a fucking orange, you aren't left feeling very positive.

When the guard locked her in her cell, she felt more lonely than ever. For the first time in prison except the first two weeks, she found herself missing _him_. She knew there was no point in hoping to ever see _him_ again since her life was going to be over in about two hours but she still wished things had gone differently.

She sat down on her bed with the paper Edward had left. Her eyes focused on the date.

September 8th.

_Fuck._

September 8th.

Exactly three years ago was the last time she had seen _him_. He had gone out, promising not to take longer than five minutes. An hour later, Bella was sprawled out on the couch, as high as a flag on the fourth of July.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

Exactly three years ago, she had pulled the trigger on Officer Riley Biers while she was trapped in the destructive clutches of ketamine.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

The state of Arizona had a really cruel sense of humor. She was going to die on the same day she killed a police officer.

Despite his promise, Edward had found himself thinking of the one day that he forced himself to forget. The day the sun stopped shining and everywhere he went it was always raining a slow and endless drizzle. The day his life ended.

It was why he was in 66 Bar in Needles, California. He had driven away from the Arizona prison to clear his head and had somehow ended up in the small bar. The only other person in the bar was the bartender who sat at the opposite end of the building sipping coffee. He had given Edward three bottles of scotch and a tumbler and was told to 'knock himself out'.

Edward was already halfway through the second bottle. He tilted his tumbler and looked inside, watching the scotch swirl around, fascinated by the rolling waves. It was mesmerizing, capturing his gaze and forcing his eyes to follow it. With a flick of his wrist, it sloshed around inside of the glass.

He was drunk. Which was a first for him.

It wasn't being drunk that was new to him. What was different was that he only drank on June 6th. That was the only day of the year that he allowed himself to get drunk. June 6th was the reason he was drunk now. June 6th was the day he was drinking to forget.

His cell phone dinged. He didn't have to look at it to know who it was. He ignored it.

His cell dinged again. He didn't take any notice. Instead, he walked out of the bar and got into his sleek silver Volvo in the cramped parking lot.

His cell dinged one last time. He still ignored it. He gazed out of the window. A slight breeze blew across his face.

He sighed before turning to address his unannounced company.

"What do you want?"

Tanya smiled. Her blonde hair was wet but she was wearing her usual clothing choices: black jeans, a black tank top and a black leather jacket.

"I can't just drop in on my friend?"

Edward scowled at her.

"Alright, fine," she said, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "I was worried about you."

"I'm okay," Edward hissed.

Tanya raised her eyebrows at him. "You don't look fine. You look drunk."

Edward remained silent.

Tanya sighed. "Look, Edward, I'm on this motor boat chasing a Target at sixty miles an hour. Suddenly, I get a call from Jasper asking if I could go and check on you since I'm nearby. When I ask why, he says 'Edward's in a bar. That's bad because Edward is never in a bar'. So can you call him and tell him you're still alive?"

Edward gritted his teeth but reluctantly reached for his cell. Seventeen texts from Jasper. He sent Jasper a message saying 'I hate you' and then tossed his phone to the floor of his car. His gaze swiveled to meet Tanya's.

She smiled at him and got out of his car. He glared at her as she got into her Ferrari. She noticed and flipped him off before she sped away.

_Fuck Tanya_, he thought. _Fuck Jasper, fuck Aro and fuck everyone else that was in some way involved with the Bureau._

He glanced at his watch. It was six o'clock. In another hour, he would have to be back at the prison, ready to transport Bella to the Bureau. Her execution was scheduled for quarter past seven.

Sighing, he started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. If he drove like most maniacs with Volvos drove, he could make it back there in an hour.

Bella shivered as she turned off the hot water. She was standing in one of the three prison shower cubicles. They were reserved for guards and prisoners on death row that only had minutes left to live - like her.

She pulled a worn purple towel down from a hook on the back of the door and rubbed her body vigorously with it in the cramped space. Then she dressed quickly in underwear and a ridiculously cheerful yellow dress that the guards had picked out for her.

Once she was clothed, she stepped outside the cubicle and the guard on duty slid handcuffs on her wrists.

She shivered again as she was taken back to her cell. The corridors were damp and cold and she had nothing to cover her arms.

Her hands were released, her cell door was bolted shut and she had wrapped the comforter from her bed around herself.

A clock had been placed in her room, most likely by some bleeding-heart activist. They probably thought it was an act of kindness.

Bella swallowed uncomfortably. She glanced at the clock's digital display. 18:38. _Thirty seven minutes until I die_, she thought.

She lay there, extremely bored. Her impending death did not frighten her. The waiting did. She knew it would be over quickly and painlessly - that was the wonder of the lethal injection - and she just wished time would go faster.

After ten minutes of trying to sleep but failing, she decided to leave behind something. Just a little plaque other death row inmates could look at while they were waiting to die.

She went over to the table. The newspaper still sat there, undisturbed. She felt under the table for her plastic fork. She had stolen it from the cafeteria on her first day and had tacked it under the table in the hope that she could use it as a weapon.

She retrieved the fork and started to rub the end of it on the floor. Soon, she had it decently sharp. It wasn't sharp enough to stab anyone with, but it was sharp enough to make small marks in the wall with.

Hastily, she moved her bed aside and scraped a message into the wall. It read "Нарушение волна не может объяснить всю море". It was a quote from Vladimir Nabokov - Her father's favorite author. It meant 'The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea'. Her father had always said that to her every night before she went to sleep. It was one of the few thing she could remember about him, given that the last time she had seen him was when she was when she was twelve. That was almost ten years ago.

She traced her finger along the jagged twists and turns of the Russian letters. Then she moved her bed back into place and tacked the sharp plastic fork back under the table.

She lay back onto her bed. She decided that if she was going to die in - she looked at the clock again - nineteen minutes, she might as well think of happy things. Unfortunately, happy things came few and far between in Bella's world.

The last time she had been truly happy wasn't with Edward, or _him _or her mother or even her father - it was when she was alone. Even on camping trips with her father in the vast forest surrounding their small mansion, she preferred to sit in a tree somewhere and read a book.

It was on those frequent camping trips she learned to speak English. Her father would insist that she learn because he used to dream of moving to America.

She chuckled darkly. _The irony_. Her father dreamt of coming to the very country she was trapped in.

_No_, she thought. _I won't spend the last minutes of my life wallowing in self-pity and thinking of how life used to be._

Everyone thought she was American due to her fake documents. And she was determined to keep it that way until she died.

The next time he saw her, she was bouncing the yellow ball again.

"Hello," Edward said, entering her cell, startling her and making her almost drop it.

"It's time, isn't it?" Bella asked keeping her eyes downcast but still bouncing the ball on the ground.

"Yes."

Sighing, she tossed the ball to him. "Keep it," she muttered.

Edward half-smiled and put the ball in his pocket.

"You like the dress?" she asked sarcastically.

Edward raised his eyebrows at her. "Not really."

She feigned hurt and smirked at him.

Edward cleared his throat. Sighing again, she held her hands out to him to put the cuffs on.

As they were slid onto her wrists, she shuddered at the coolness. Edward instantly took off his jacket and put in around her small shoulders. She looked like she was about to protest but she just pursed he lips.

Other guards trooped in with leg chains and a belt.

With her legs and arms chained together painfully, Bella was led to the death chamber. She thought it would be more…death chamber-y. Like a sterile white circular room with a white hospital gurney.

Instead, she was greeted by a seemingly average room. The walls were pale blue and the gurney was more grey than white. The only object that looked out of place was a long mirror that took up the whole of the north wall with heavy black curtains on either side.

She knew it was two way and all of Riley Bier's relations were sitting behind it, eagerly awaiting justice to be served.

Her eyes fluttered around the room anxiously. Edward took her elbow and gently guided her towards the gurney. She shrugged his jacket off and it fell to the ground. Reluctantly, she slowly lay back and Edward took one cuff of one of her wrists, locked it onto the bed and removed the rest of the chains. She swallowed uneasily.

Edward stepped back from the gurney to the IV and poured a small bag containing Oxyformahydrochlroide, a fast-acting sedative into it. Bella would seem clinically deceased to any medical expert.

Carlisle entered the room. Although he was a highly qualified doctor, the prison had taken quite a bit of persuading to allow him to carry out the execution due to the fact that he was new.

He lightly took her small arm and injected the IV line into it. She was shivering violently. Edward almost took a step forward to hold her hand but stopped himself. He told himself he didn't care about Bella.

She screwed her eyes shut as the needle went in but opened them again a fraction of a second later. Her breathing sped up. After a minute, her panicked eyes slowly closed and her tense muscles relaxed.

Carlisle felt her pulse and pronounced her dead.

Edward walked over to the curtains and pulled them shut. Then he touched his comm. "You got the green light," he said into it.

"Ex-fil is on schedule," came the reply.

Edward lifted Bella into his arms. They exited through a side door that led to the fire escape. Edward was careful to not injure her as he hurried down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, a black car with dark tinted windows pulled up next to them. He laid Bella down on the black leather in the back and got into the passenger side. The driver of the vehicle checked his mirrors before speeding away.

Edward pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Aro's number. It rang once before he picked up.

"Well?" Aro asked expectantly.

"We got her," Edward answered and immediately ended the call, as instructed.

Sighing, he gazed out of the window at the city on the skyline. It would be a long drive back to the Bureau.

* * *

**A/N: So there you have it. My second chapter. **

**1. Oxyformahydrochloride is something I made up. I think. **

**2. My withdrawal theories are bull. **

**And that's it.**

**Oh, and to those of you who follow my stories, Silent Moment WILL be updated over the easter break. I promise.**

**Love ya!**

**Jodi xx**

**Evie xox  
**

**PS: Review help my ego and make me write faster :)**


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